Where Are You?

Playing Scooby Doo pinball for a couple weeks now and I've decided I don't care for it. I really like the theme, loved Scooby Doo as a kid and loved revisiting with my own kids. The table really lacks flow, it's more like darts - you shoot at targets. Most of the playfield is hidden by the upper playfield. The artwork is nice and the toys are well done. Meh.

Get in the Van

Stern Foo Fighters pinball. First off I am not a fan of rock band pinball tables, I don't care for the repeated song clips... they can wear on you when playing over and over. Also noted - I am not a fan of the Foo Fighters either. That said this is designer Jack Danger's first pro design. He did create the design for Jurassic Park home version but this his first "real" table. It's got a pretty interesting layout, all kinds of S curves, a trapped ball, oddly shaped inlanes and kicker cannon not facing the player. The ability to hit combo shots is satisfying and there is plenty of movement and things to shoot at. The modes are similar to Roadshow in that you're traveling around the country as a band and playing shows. Playing at the bar is cool cause I don't have to hear the music. Zombie Yeti did the artwork and it's nice candy colored and bright reminiscent of the TMNT table he did from a couple years ago. The screen is animated as well, no real imagery but rather cartoon illustrations of the band and locations.

Score

Out on a visit to see my daughter, she took me to a record store. Not expecting too much I nwas surprised by a Budgie record and some Smiths 12"s. I picked up some JAM Japanese 7"s and Black Flag on Posh Boy first press of Louie Louie. The owner sees me browsing and walks over and says "do you like 7"s?"..... I rolled up my sleeve and show him my tattoo and he says "well alright! in the basement I have over 3000 7"s you're welcome to dig, and they're 3 for a dollar." I left with 2 12"s and 40 7"s. Including the Seeds "Pushing Too Hard" holy crap. I'll be back, AND I'll need a tshirt. Always digging, never know what's in the next crate.

the PEZ Outlaw

Watched a great doumentary last night on Netflix. The PEZ Outlaw. Oddball dude works a crap factory job and dreams of bigger things. But really it's a dude outside the norm who sees value in stuff others don't and takes on a company who is failing at Marketing. Really great stuff here and I'm casual PEZ fan, really more a fan of cheap junky toys so the theme is of interest to me anyway. Worth watching if you got 1.5 hours and want something a little out there.

Thematic Spin for Today

"Get me outta here!"

FIRE! the pinball machine from Williams is one of my favorite pinball tables. It was my introduction to learning the rules of pinball, rather than just trying to stay alive and keep the ball from the drain. There are "missions" to accomplish to further the story of the game. This was new to me when I encountered this table at the Lion's Lair in the early 1990s. Also attrative to me was the idea that I could compete against my pals and if they weren't there I could practice and possibly learn something before them. I played FIRE! last week, there isn't one near me so I only get to play it once a year at the Pinball Showdown here in Denver. It's different than most tables from a layout perspective as it's symmetrical (not typical in pinball) and has no pop bumpers (the round bits that jump the ball around when they are touched). For these reasons it gets a lot of criticism from the pinball community, the artwork and theme seem to keep it popular but as far as the layout and play it gets roasted. The table is unforgiving, there is not an easy shot on the table and the pop up fire hydrant is intermitent and based on hitting shots around the center post. There is an audio warning when it drops, but if you're playing out the noise of the bar can obscure this. The big shot in the game is after locking two balls the firemen raise the ladder to the window in the center to "save" the balls trapped in the burning buildings and achieve multiball. It's not a terribly deep game as far as rules go and multible is really as far as you can go but it very fun when you can hit it.

In a whole lot of nothing you got up and went

Friday spinning and working from home. I know every lyric on this record.

Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed?

Spinning Friday morning.

I Ain't Your Average Punk Rock Loser

The new Viagra Boys has some gems on it, "Punk Rock Loser" is just fantastic. Druggie, Stooges-esque, blurry and poetic.

"I'm drenched in sweat when I wake up, need to hang up my sheets Pour up a beer and walk out with my shoes on my feet And I don't need nobody tell me how to dress I look in the mirror saying, "Man, you're the best" And I'm sorry, honey, but I gotta confess Don't give a fuck about you, I could really care less"

Life in Streetwear

Pixel lent me the Bobby Hundreds book - "This is Not a TShirt" and I just finished it. As casual fan of the Hundreds, I have a couple tshirts and some sneakers from them. I thought it was a pretty good read. I'm too old really to rock streetwear these days but I was there in the beginning and follow it a bit from time to time. If the book followed a more linear path on Bobby's journey I think it would have read better, but it's cool to hear how he built it up and some of his thoughts. He doesn't take himself too serious and I especially liked that. I liked the 1/2 book cover but the typography of This is Not a TShirt is kinda odd?

Love Letters

Now that we're middle aged and hurting. I watched all the Jeff Grosso Love Letters to skateboarding when they were new and now I'm watching them again. Some I've seen several times. Like the Style episode with Duane Peters. Grosso - "what makes a good skateboarder to you?" Peters - "Style and Agression". Yep. Perfect answer, there isn't a better answer. These shows are such fun to watch, it reminds me of the old days. Grosso talks like me. I wish I could have met the guy, would have been great to skate with him or just hang out on a couch for an afternoon. He perfectly sums up how I feel about skateboarding. There are rules, there are important things, there are things that should not be done in the name of skateboarding.

The Bear

I love shows about restaurants. I like some cooking shows too but restaurant shows are better. The Bear on HULU right now is fantastic. High stress, well written, well acted. My family is from Joliet and are White Sox fans not Cub fans, I like how is this lightly shown in the show. Of course I hate Cubs fans. ;) They did a nice job on the soundtrack too, there's some boners of course but I'd say 70% to the good. Trainspotting in the finale episode, the donut chef is rocking an Off-White tshirt.

Jerusalem

I got the new SLEEP Dopesmoker box set last week and it really is over the top. I have a previous version on Southern Lord and it's fantastic too but this ThirdMan version is on another level. My ears are pretty shot, I'm old, and have stood next to too many bands over the years. In spite of that I can hear differences in this pressing. The box set is 4 12" records with printed sleeves on both sides, a 7" radio edit, 2 posters, patch, a description card of what's included and of course the box to house them in, all pressed on marbled green vinyl. Everything Third Man Records that I have picked up has been the finest made, the attention to detail, the quality of the vinyl, the printing, all the extras. Jack White and his team are second to none and are the standard in which to follow.

It's called work

Some days are rougher than others eh? yeah. One of my favorite lyrics of all time and I've got a lot of favorites....... is from Gang Starr's track Full Clip - "How many times I told ya, play your position small soldier" For many years I have had this written on a slip of paper and I taped it to my laptop. It's important for me to remember. I can't control everything and it's wise to keep that top of mind.

Versus the Automaton

High on Fire post yesterday and then this waiting for me when I got home. Thanks to my letter carrier. It's cool muddy brown and blue vinyl. On my first listen right now. It's sounding good and if you're familiar you know the sound. Tone monster. Came with a cool poster insert and some stickers, gatefold, 180g.